The Cookbook Challenge No. 11: Cup

Chocolate + Orange + Cookbook Challenge Cup Theme =

Bittersweet Chocolate and Orange Pot de Cremes.


I've been on a quest for the past year or so discovering/playing with/creating 'little individual - no sharing with anyone - desserts', and I discovered this little beauty.

Chocolate and Orange Pot de Cremes
Cookbook: Sunday Suppers Blog
Author: Casey Solomon

1 ½ cups of milk
2 eggs
a pinch of salt
2 cups bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 tbsp of Grand Marnier
zest of 1 orange

Bring the milk to a simmer in a sauce pan. Put eggs, salt, chocolate, Grand Marnier and orange zest in a blender. Pulse until combined. On medium speed, slowly add in the hot milk and blend for 1 minute.

Pour into individual small bowls or ramekins and chill for at least an hour.


Wow, what a dessert! This one really packs a punch and is not for the faint hearted.

It's rich, creamy, full of flavour and extremely chocolaty.

Not being a big lover of chocolate desserts, I found this a little too much for me, but in small little amounts (just a few spoonfuls), it's a dessert you won't easily forget.

Thank God for the hint of orange which really helps cut through all of that richness....just a little.

To check out my fellow challengers, click here.

Just like medicine.....

What is it about soup that can instantly make you feel better?

As I wasn't feeling 100% well earlier in the week, I was craving simple flavours, something easy to prepare, and of course, easy to eat. It's not often I can't be bothered chewing but this was one of those times, and there is just something magical about holding a warm bowl of soup in your hands whilst curled up under a blanket.

Instant comfort.


I'd spotted this recipe on one of my favourite blogs Cannelle et Vanille back in October last year and had been meaning to cook it ever since (where has the time gone?). It's one of those recipes where most people (including me) already have all the ingredients, so what better timing than now.

Pea, Potato and Rice Soup (Potatas en Salsa Verde)


Serves 4

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
7-8 small potatoes, peeled and slcied
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup white wine
Enough water to cover and a bit more
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 tbsp arborio rice
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, soft boil (optional)

In a large pot, heat the olive oil with the garlic. Cook for about a minute on medium heat until lightly cooked (not brown). Add sliced ptatoes and cook them in the olive oil for about 2 mintues until you feel they are starting to stick to the pan. Add the chopped parsley and stir.

Add the white wine and let the alcolhol evaporae. Coverwith water, add the peas, rice and salt. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and let simmer for about 20 minutes until potatoes are tender. Taste and adjust salt.

Serve with eggs if desired, fresh parsley, cilantro flowers and toasted bread.




Absolutely perfect!


What a beautiful,filling and morish soup with such a light subtle flavour. It won its way into being one of my favourite soup recipes, and the addition of the egg made it even more special.

A cold and comfort food..........

I don't know about you, but I always crave comfort food when I'm not feeling well. Even a simple head cold has me reaching for a bowl of home-made soup and something sweet that I can munch on whilst curled up on the couch under a blanket watching old movies.

My current head cold is no exception, so when I was flicking through the pages of April/May 2011 issue of Donna Hay between blowing my nose and generally feeling sorry for myself, this popped out to me - literally!


Caramel Popcorn


1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/3 cup (80g) popcorn kernels
15g butter
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of (baking) soda

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the kernels and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Lightly shake the saucepan until all the kernels have popped. Transfer to a large bowl. I actually used my air-popper for this process.

Place butter, honey and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat and stir until the butter is melted. Increase heat to medium and bring to the boil for 3-4 minutes or until golden and thickened. Remove from heat, add the bicarbonate of soda and stir to combine. Pour the caramel mixture over the popcorn, mix to combine and spoon onto a lightly greased baking tray to set.

Break into pieces to serve.


With a big pot of tea, this was the perfect medicine for an afternoon of relaxing.

If only I wasn't sick!

A farmers market and The Lake House.....

With Melbourne experiencing a beautiful Autumn day, I headed down to Daylesford with one of my girlfriends for a spot of shopping, eating, and general wandering.


First stop was the Farmers Market at Trentham (located between Woodend and Daylesford) which was also holding "Spud Fest", a little festival celebrating all things potato.






After stocking up on some fresh vegetables, eggs and of course potatoes, we then headed a little further down the road to Daylesford.


(Look at the beautiful blue sky)


Sitting in the beautiful sunshine with a pot of tea at a sweet little cafe just as you enter Daylesford was exactly what was needed.

It's been so cold lately in Melbourne that it was a real treat to feel the heat on your skin once again.

It also revived us for a little wander around some of the antique shops in the area.


We'd been told to visit a little honey place just near The Lake House called Des O'Tooles. It's just a little stand on the side of the road with an honesty box (located at the front of the Bee Keepers home). What an amazing taste! In fact, we later found out that it is the honey that The Lake House restaurant uses.


Having no more room in the car for any more produce, we were ready for the piece de resistance of the whole day -

Lunch at The Lake House.


Walking in was not what I expected. For some reason I felt the restaurant would been very formal (perhaps even a little stuffy), but that's not what we encounted at all. It was warm, friendly and very inviting with beautiful bright artwork on the walls and a view to die for.



We had the Express Lunch Menu - 2 courses and a glass of wine for $50.

To start off, we were given a little tasting plate of warm local olives and homemade bread sticks.

Off the menu, we chose the soup of the day (minestrone with Gruyere toast) and the ceaser salad with fresh white anchovies and a crumbed boiled egg with the ooziest yolk.


I was actually full at this stage, but we followed this with mushroom risotto and the duck with pork belly.


What an amazing experience.

The pork belly just melted in the mouth, and tasting my friend's risotto - wow! What an intense earthy flavour.

With no room left at all I really don't know how I ordered the little sweet tasting plate to go with coffee. Tiny morsels of passionfruit marshmallow, salted chocolate fudge, an orange and chocolate macaroon, shortbread, and spiced popcorn.


The service was superb. Not in your way, very knowledgeable and really down to earth which I felt really matched the environment.

Perfect sized portions too.


With the sun slowly making its way down, the light that fell on the yellow, red and brown Autumn leaves of the trees that surrounded the lake were calling out to us.


The photos just don't do justice to the colours that were present. So vivid that they've etched themselves into my memory.

Finishing off an amazing day filled with fresh food and lots and lots of fresh air.

My niece the chocoholic......

Last Saturday night I gained brownie points with my nine year old niece as she packed her bag and headed across to my place for a sleepover.

This is no everyday nine year old niece though.

This one wanted to cook the entire evening so after writing up our shopping lists, and buying all of our ingredients, we hit the kitchen and made:

Home made fettuccine with a carbonara sauce
Chocolate truffles

Ms M went through a load of cookbooks looking up "Chocolate" in the index, then flicking through until she found exactly what she wanted. Chocolate Truffles won the day.

Chocolate Truffles
Cookbook: Faking It
Author: Valli Little


Makes 30

300ml thickened cream
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
450g dark chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream or Brandy (we omitted this for obvious reasons)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine cream and coffee in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until coffee dissolves. Decrease heat to low and add the chocolate, stirring for 5-6 minutes until the chocolate melts. Set aside for 5 mins to col, then stir in the Baileys or brandy and vanilla. Pour into a shallow bowl, allow to cool, then chill for 4 hours until set to a fudge-like consistency.

Scoop out teaspoonfuls of the mixture and roll into balls wearing gloves. Place on baking paper-lined tray in the fridge as you go - you should have enough mixture for 30 truffles.

Soft the cocoa onto a large sheet of baking paper. Roll the truffles in the cocoa to coat, then store the truffles in an airtight container or in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Bring to room temperature before serving, then dust with a little extra cocoa if needed.


And look how they turned out. I was very impressed as she made these almost all on her own.

The Cookbook Challenge No.10: BLUE

Memories of the blue theme from last year's Cookbook Challenge came flooding back and I can tell you, they weren't good memories.

They were memories of a disaster dessert that ended up in the bin.

So my fingers were crossed that I would get it right this year, yet I decided to try one of those dishes that looks so easy to make but so many people have a lot of trouble getting right.......


Blueberry Scones
Cookbook: Holiday
Author: Bill Granger


Makes 8 wedges

250g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
100g cold unsalted butter, cubed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125 ml cream
85g blueberries, frozen or fresh, tossed in a little flour
1 egg, mixed with 1 tbsp milk, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Pulse the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a food processor until combines. Add the butter and pulse until it is roughly combined (there will still be lumps of butter). Tip into a bowl and mix in the eggs and cream with a knife. Gently mix in the blueberries with your hands (tossing them in a bit of flour first prevents them all sinking to the bottom of the dough).

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and press into a 15cm square. Cut into quarters and then cut each quarter in half. Place on the baking tray and brush with the egg and milk glaze. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm, with butter if you like.


Mine took a hell of a lot longer to cook than what Bill had said - almost 40 mins.

Maybe I didn't press them down enough and kept them a little too fat? Not sure.


Once cooked - I was really pleased.

They were crumbly and not too sweet and tasted oh so good with the butter I added on top.


Were they perfect? The Country Women's Association would most likely say no, but they suited my taste buds very well and I was very proud of my effort.

So Blue Theme 2011 - Winner!!

To view what my fellow challenger have been up to, click here.

Walnut Meringues

I ripped this recipe out of The Age paper one Sunday many many moons ago and have been looking at this recipe on and off since, never making it but always thinking "one day".

Well that "one day" finally arrived.

I had a captive audience to eat the end result (in the form of friends attending my birthday dinner party recently), and I had all the ingredients already in my cupboard and fridge. There was nothing stopping me now!


Walnut Meringues
Cookbook: The Age
Author: Karen Martini


Oh my! What a meringue.

I mentioned to Hannah from Wayfaring Chocolate once that you can never have enough meringue recipes up your sleeve, and this particular one just proved the point.

They were sensational!


They held their shape. They had a crisp shell with a beautiful gooey centre, and the chopped walnuts and sugar baked on top was the piece de resistance.

Served with some home-made coffee ice-cream (one of the best ice-cream recipes I've made to date care of "At Elizabeth David's Table"), I was very excited to see some left over at the end of night.

Yippee!